


Shivering Spiders

by crashboxhasmywholeheart



Series: These Arms Do More Than Just Swing [5]
Category: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Genre: Feels, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen, Hugs, Hypothermia, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Missing Persons, Mystery, Team as Family, Whump, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-07-29
Packaged: 2020-07-11 19:37:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19933402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crashboxhasmywholeheart/pseuds/crashboxhasmywholeheart
Summary: None of the gang have heard from Miles lately. Gwen goes to his universe to investigate and things quickly escalate. With May's aid, Gwen sets out to find and save Earth-1610's Spider-Man; she nor his universe can stand to lose him.ORMiles gets himself into something way over his head and hurt/comfort ensues.





	1. Searching

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is so different from anything I've ever written before. I had the time of my life writing it and I hope it shows. Enjoy!

Gwen was about to lose it. Nothing was where it should be in this stupid universe and she felt stupid because of it. She’d been walking in circles for the past thirty minutes, her eye being drawn by almost familiar landmarks and restaurants with frustratingly similar names. 

People were a lot more friendly in Miles’ universe. One lady saw that she was looking a little lost and asked if she needed any directions. But Gwen had trust issues, or at least that’s what MJ would say. It counted to be careful, though. Gwen preferred to keep her presence in this universe as unsubstantial as possible. So, she gave the woman her best shot at a smile and told her that she was okay.

Thankfully, the woman returned the smile and then Gwen was on her own again. It was just as well because two blocks away, Gwen spied a glorious transparent tunnel with the word Visions splayed across it in bold, white, letters. The tunnel captured the rich peach and pink hues of the morning, making the people who walked through it almost otherworldly.

Gwen hurried across the crosswalk and slunk around to the shadowed side of the building. She stared up at it, observing how it looked against the sky, before pulling up her hood and tugging on the strings to tighten it around her head. Her hands easily found purchase against the brick of the building and after one more look around, she was scrambling up the side of Visions Academy. 

After a few wrong rooms, Gwen finally spied the familiar posters lining the walls of Miles’ dorm. She eased open the window and slipped inside, but only made it about two steps in, before her foot caught on something. In a very un-Spider-Woman moment, Gwen tripped and ended up splayed all over the floor.

She struggled to blink her surroundings back into focus and while she was sitting up she heard a rustling above her. She looked up to see Miles’ roommate, peering over the edge of the top bunk. He was squinting at her like she was behind the glass of a display case. Gwen thought that his name may have been Gawn or Danke or something like that.

Gwen got to her feet, just in time for Miles’ roommate to reach the ground. She tugged her hood down and let her body lean against the frame of the bunk bed. The guy—whatever his name was, collapsed into the desk chair, letting his momentum carry him around until he was facing Gwen.

His behavior was off-putting, to say the least. All the other times Gwen had been around Miles’ roommate, at least as Spider-Woman, he’d been all smiles, shaking her hand and staring at her all wide-eyed. She by no means missed his hero-worship, but right now he was regarding her as if she was a stranger or maybe even an enemy.

“Hey,” Gwen said, the words forming clumsily on her tongue, “it’s good to see you again, ummm—”

“Ganke. The name is Ganke,” the boy said, folding his arms over each other, “and it’s about time one of you showed up here. I was starting to get worried.”

“Worried,” Gwen said, pushing off from the bed frame, “why would you be worried? Is there something wrong with Miles?”

“I have absolutely no idea,” Ganke said with a shrug and his headphones slumped a little further down his neck. 

“I thought he was with you or one of the other Spider-people on some special save-the-world type thing. I haven’t seen him in like two days, been covering for him non-stop.”

Ganke pushed his glasses up his nose and then blinked as if something was just now occurring to him.

“He’s not like in trouble or danger or anything, right?”

Gone was the confidence that had dominated his demeanor. Ganke’s voice shook a little as he asked the question and Gwen was genuinely pained that she couldn’t provide the reassurance that he clearly wanted to hear.

“Honestly,” Gwen said with a sigh, “I have absolutely no idea. He hasn’t been talking with any of us, won’t answer any of our calls. He might be fine…he might not. Either way, I'm here to find him.”

Ganke jumped to his feet so suddenly that Gwen almost started. His eyes narrowed and his lips went thin with determination.

“What do you need me to do?”

Gwen knew that look, she had seen it too many times in the mirror not to. If she didn’t say the right thing to defuse the situation, Miles’ disappearance wouldn’t be her only problem. The last thing she needed was Ganke running around the city like a headless chicken, or even worse on her trail. If only she could just tie him to the chair, gosh that would be so much easier. Gwen hated to admit it, but MJ was right, _again._ She really needed to work on her people skills.

Gwen stepped forward and mustered all of her willpower. She swallowed the snarky remark that she wanted to give him and put her hands on Ganke’s shoulders. 

“The best thing that you can do for me—for Miles, is to hold down the fort. What you’ve been doing is great and I need you to keep doing it. Miles’ dad is a cop and if he gets involved things could get complicated. Keep covering for Miles and make things appear as normal as possible.” 

Ganke’s eyes darted past Gwen’s form and she could see that she was losing him. Gwen squeezed his shoulders, drawing his gaze back to her.

“I got this Ganke. I need you to trust me. Can you trust me to take care of this?”

Ganke squinted at Gwen. He opened his mouth and she could see from the way that his chin was tilted that he was about to argue with her. Tying him up in the chair was starting to seem like less of a whim and more of a Plan B.

Maybe Ganke was able to see the decision her eyes (Gwen had been told that the mask was pretty expressive) because he shut his mouth and gave Gwen a slow nod.

With a sigh, Gwen let go of his shoulders and stepped back.

“Thank you,” she said. “I’m gonna find him and bring him home. Okay?”

“Okay,” Ganke said. He smiled at her and then made the hand motion that Gwen made when she let loose a web. She mimicked the gesture and with that, she pulled herself out of the window and then executed it for real. 

Gwen didn’t make false promises and the one she gave Ganke was no exception. Wherever Miles was, Gwen was going. 

* * *

Gwen’s arms were smarting from the force of her swings, but it couldn’t be helped. She had to get to May’s as soon as possible. When the woman’s house came into view Gwen didn’t even bother to use the sidewalk. She released her hold on the web and then sailed through the air so that she landed on May’s new doormat. It read _Wipe Your Feet._ Gwen ignored it in favor of ringing the doorbell, three successive times. When May didn’t immediately answer, Gwen rang it again. Having nothing better to do, she began to push her feet back and forth over the mat, taking comfort in the rough feel of the bristles. It was _almost_ grounding. 

That was how May found her, shoving her feet back and forth over the mat. Gwen forgot to mind her own strength and accidentally wore a path in its pattern, bristles arching out and curled up as if in pain. 

“Well if it isn’t Spider-Woman, come to pay little old me a visit,” May said, a smirk making her eyes crinkle and the lines in her face more pronounced. Gosh, Gwen was glad that she came here. May would know what to do. May always knew what to do.

“The one and only,” Gwen said stepping into the house. Normally, she’d wait until she was invited in, but she was anxious to hear the assurances that she knew would soothe her. She needed to hear that Miles was okay. 

“I wish I knew you were coming,” May said, looking left and right around the door, before closing it behind her, “I would have put on some tea.”

“That’s okay, really,” Gwen said. She pulled down her mask so that May could hear her better, see her better. She just wished that the woman would hurry up and read the worry in her expression, Gwen didn’t want to voice it aloud. This whole thing felt silly, she was probably overreacting. Miles was a big boy; he could take care of himself…but still. Gwen had to make sure.

May’s house was looking much, much better. The woman had been hesitant to use the money that the citizens of New York City had sent her after Peter’s passing. However, after using some of it to repair the damage done to her house after the multiverse incident, the Spider’s convinced her to use a bit more for decoration and remodeling. Gwen could still remember, with startling clarity, Peter B. saying in a soft voice that it’s what her nephew would have wanted. 

May walked through the living room and into the kitchen with a purpose. She busied herself with filling up her kettle with water. Gwen didn’t mind, it gave her more time to think of how she was going to approach this whole conversation. She leaned against the archway of the room and then thought better of it, knowing that May would just make her come in and sit anyway. So instead, Gwen just skipped all that, shuffled in, and took a seat at one of the island counter barstools (another one of May’s home improvements).

In her head, Gwen went through line after opening line as she fiddled with the sleeve of her suit. _Hi May, I’m just here to check on Miles like I’m his mom or something. Oh hey, May I was just in the neighborhood and wondering if you’d seen Miles around lately. Miles that boy is quite the mystery maybe you’d be able to help me crack him._

Gwen was just about to let her head drop to the table when a steaming mug filled her vision. She looked up to see May leaning against the countertop, holding a mug of her own. The steam of the tea caressed her cheeks and filled her nose with a delicious scent. Gwen was surprised that May remembered her favorite flavor; ginger and lemon. 

“Not that I’m not happy to see you,” May said, “but I would be lying if I wasn’t curious what brings you here. Especially without Miles.”

Gwen’s heart sunk.

“So you haven’t seen him?”

May’s brows furrowed and the corners of her lips burrowed down into her face.

A lump formed in Gwen’s throat, but she couldn’t afford to break down now. In an attempt to stifle it, Gwen raised the mug to her lips and forced herself to swallow some of its contents. It burned all the way down. 

“If you mean Miles, well then no I haven’t seen him all that recently. What’s going on? Is there some kind of trouble?”

“I—I don’t know.” 

Gwen hated the way that her words wavered. She tried to take another sip of the tea, but her hands wouldn’t stop shaking enough to get the cup off of the counter. Of course, none of this escaped May’s sharp gaze. The woman lowered her own mug to the counter and was at Gwen’s side in moments.

“Things just aren’t adding up,” Gwen said.

“None of us have heard from Miles lately and all the others were busy so I came here to check up on him. I went to his school, but his roommate said he hadn’t been there in two days and I went to his house and couldn’t find any trace of him.”

Gwen finally made herself look up at May and almost lost her composure seeing the woman’s soft gaze and the gentle tilt to her head. She was staring at Gwen like she was about to break and honestly maybe she was. She tried her best not to get attached, but now she was, to all the Spider-people. If anything happened to them, well gosh Gwen didn’t know what she would do.

“Something doesn’t feel right May. I’m not sure what it is, but I just have this feeling that something bad happened to him.”

“Oh hun,” May said. 

Gwen felt the woman’s arms wrap around her and she almost jumped away. She wasn’t really a touchy-feely type of person, not since Peter died but this, well right now, she needed this. So she let her defenses down, just this once and slowly leaned into May’s touch, until her forehead was resting on the woman’s shoulder.

She didn’t cry, she had to keep herself at least somewhat together, for Miles, but she could at least let herself have this. A gross hiccup escaped her, but that was about it. She let May hold her until her breath stopped hitching and she finally felt able to swallow.

Gwen leaned back and, thankfully and May followed her lead. The woman gave her shoulder a tight squeeze, before reaching past her and picking up Gwen’s cup of tea. She pressed it into her hands and somehow, over the course of all that crying, it had cooled to the perfect temperature.

“So, if I’ve got this straight,” May said, returning to her own drink, “no one has heard from Miles in the past two days and no one seems to know where he is?”

“Right,” Gwen said, taking a deep sip of her drink.

“I’m not sure if I’m much help here. The last time I saw Miles was four days ago. He stopped by for an afternoon, just to catch up, nothing major.”

“Did he ask you about anything superhero related, anything at all?”

May narrowed her eyes in concentration.

“Well, now that you mention it, yes he did. I can’t believe I didn’t think of this already, although it was so brief, that my brain may have just glossed over it. As I’m sure Miles has told you, Kingpin’s goons broke him out of prison a few months back. Ever since Miles has been dead set on sending the scumbag back to where he belongs. He updates me on his progress from time to time and—well—the last time he visited me, Miles mentioned something about a lead.”

“What kind of lead?” Gwen asked, setting her mug down so fast, that some of the liquid sloshed over the side and onto the counter.

“Miles’ dad is a cop, of course, and Miles said he’d heard something over his dad’s radio. Said that someone had sent in a tip that there was a lot of underground activity and shady dealings going on somewhere in Brooklyn.”

“But Kingpin wouldn’t put himself out in the open like that,” Gwen said, “not unless he’s getting sloppy.”

“Those were my thoughts exactly. Normally I’d do my best to talk Miles out of a solo confrontation as dangerous as that, but I just figured it’d be alright since Kingpin would be laying low. It’s important to Miles to feel like he’s making progress on this whole thing, he’s still so impatient. I just let him go, figured this would be something minor, a drug bust or something like that… now I’m not so sure.”

“Hey,” Gwen said, setting down her tea, “you made the best call that you could.”

She hesitated a moment, but then reached out and laid a gentle hand on the woman’s shoulder. She wasn’t good at this whole comforting thing, but May had been there for Gwen, the least she could do was return the favor.

May sniffed once and then finally looked up. Her bright blue eyes were rimmed with worry, but even then they still managed to look determined. 

“We’re gonna find him and if Kingpin dared lay a hand on him there will be hell to pay.”

Gwen raised her mug into the air and said, “I can drink to that.”

May didn't hesitate to scoop up her cup. The clink of the chinaware resounded around the kitchen, confident and sure. The two drained their mugs in a matter of seconds. Before Gwen could even think of setting down her cup, May took it out of her hands. 

“You have more important things to do than spend the afternoon chatting with an old woman.”

May moved over to the sink and began to rinse out their mugs.

“If there’s anyone that can find Miles, it’s you. There’s no time to waste, don’t even bother with pleasantries.” May leaned over the sink and past the counter, her voice was firm as she said, “get out there and bring back our boy.”

Gwen gave a firm nod, letting herself gather strength in the surety of the woman’s words. She pulled down her mask and following May’s instructions didn’t even say goodbye before bounding through her house and out the front door. May was right, there were more important things at stake and Gwen had to keep moving. She couldn’t stop until she found Miles.

* * *

It had been a long, long day. Gwen swung all over the city, eavesdropping and getting what she could out of petty crooks and thieves. In the end, she came up with a location that had been confirmed by at least three sources.

She was on her way over there now, alone. There was no back-up coming. She had called everyone about an hour back to update them on the whole situation. Noir didn’t pick up, probably tangled up in some investigation of his. Peni said that she was grounded for sneaking out with Sp/dr too often and Porker had said, over some extremely _loud cartoony_ sounds that he was busy fighting but would be over as soon as he could. Gwen didn’t call Peter B. he was a last resort. Right now, MJ was pregnant, full to bursting and Peter was avoiding suiting up as much as he could. It wasn’t an emergency _yet,_ so Gwen wouldn’t call him _yet._

So yeah, the team was a bit busy, but if worse came to worst, she knew they’d come. Peni would sneak out and Ham would somehow find some goofy loophole to vanquish off his villain. Peter B. would come running from the hospital if he had to and Gwen was sure that Noir would appear at just the right time as the man often did. Their team was like that, even a multiverse couldn’t keep them apart. 

Right now though, Gwen still had the situation under control. May's house was still only about thirty minutes away and Gwen was hot on the trail of a solid lead. Part of her hoped, more than anything, that she would find Miles here, but at the same time, he’d been missing for two days. That would mean two days in the hands of those thugs, one of which was probably Kingpin. Gwen shuddered mid-swing, remembering the cruel curve of the hulking man’s form, his expression twisted and distorted in anger. She just really hoped Miles was okay.

The place Gwen had been told about, finally came into view. _Marty’s Shipyard_ was scrawled across an enormous entrance sign in grand orange lettering. A smiling carp with its fins spread wide, leaned against the words as if he was welcoming Gwen onto the premises. 

She let her webbing go slack and Gwen glided over the chain-link fence, sliding to a stop on the cracked road below. Gwen immediately slunk over into the shadows and took stock of her surroundings.

The place was mostly made up of warehouses although they looked far from active. In fact, most had a fine layer of rust accumulating on their outsides. Only about half the lamp posts were turned on and those that did, flickered in and out providing nothing more than non-committal lighting. Gwen strained her ears, hoping to pick up something with her sensitive hearing, but couldn’t catch even the shred of someone’s voice. The only thing she heard was the scuttling of rats, their tiny paws pattering over the pavement.

The place was completely deserted, destitute, the perfect place for a crime lord, getting back on his feet to stay. Unfortunately, there seemed to be no trace of a single human soul around. Nevertheless, Gwen did not come all this way to just give up now.

So, she plastered herself to the wall of the closest warehouse and crept around its edges until she found its entrance. After scanning her surroundings, one last time, she ducked inside, ready to scour every inch of the place.

It was in the third warehouse, that Gwen’s shoulders and thighs began to ache. During the sixth warehouse, the soft patter of rain on the roof entered Gwen’s ears and by the eighth one, she was slightly damp. While inside the tenth warehouse she got a text from her dad asking where she was and when she was coming home. If Gwen was being honest, she wanted nothing more than to go home, change into her _dry_ sweatpants, and curl up on the couch with the Thai take-out from her fridge. But she couldn’t, wouldn’t. Everyone else was busy and Miles was counting on her.

So Gwen texted back, apologizing, saying she was out kind of late with MJ, working on some stuff for the band. Then pushing her luck, Gwen made up some stuff about the creative flow being ruined and asked if she could just sleep-over. Surprisingly, her dad obliged but made it clear she was in for a stern talking-to later. Gwen could work with that.

Gwen really started to get discouraged around warehouse number seventeen; there were only two more warehouses left after this one. Her wet feet slapped against the concrete as she crept inside. She dropped all her subtly a few buildings back and had instead been calling Miles’ name just hoping that he’d respond. She never heard anything back, though, except the forlorn echoes of her exhausted voice.

She was just about to move on from this warehouse, having scoped out all the rooms up, down, and all around. However, as she was walking, Gwen felt a slight pressure at the base of her neck, the familiar feeling of her Spider-Sense. She spun around, eyes scanning her surroundings. When nothing obvious appeared, Gwen backtracked and came across a door that she hadn’t really noticed before.

There was nothing special about it, in fact, it was barely visible at all, with one small, dingy handle, and its surface painted the same color as the wall. Nevertheless, Gwen felt drawn to it, compelled to enter. It could easily, _easily,_ be a trap. Maybe even the same thing Miles had experienced a few nights ago. Trap or not, though, this was the closest Gwen had felt to Miles all night. It was a chance that she had to take. 

It never hurt to be prepared though, she was no good to Miles captured or incapacitated. Gwen crawled up onto the ceiling and after taking a steadying breath, she shot a web to the handle of the door and tugged. 

It was loud _,_ so loud that Gwen was now grateful the place was abandoned. The hinges of the door moaned, yet Gwen continued to pull until the door hit the wall. What greeted her was the beginnings of a concrete stairwell, the rest of it shrouded in shadow. 

Gwen stayed on the ceiling for a while and when she was sure nothing was going to emerge from the darkness, she dropped to the ground. She crept down the stairs, wishing that her mask had some kind of night vision. She’d have to ask Peni about it later. She stumbled over to the wall, berating herself all the while. She should have thought to bring a flashlight or something. 

She was making good progress when her foot hit something. It went skittering and when Gwen caught up to it, she saw that it was a flashlight. 

“What are the odds?” she mumbled to herself.

Either someone had left in a hurry or _someone_ had dropped it on their way in. Neither were comforting realities. Gwen flicked the switch and a beam of light illuminated the floor in front of her. At least she could see where she was going now. 

Gwen quickly moved through the hallway, but she stopped short as she turned the corner. In front of her feet were dark circles of what she’s most definitely sure was blood. She shone the flashlight further down the hallway and saw that the spotty trail continued. Gwen jumped to her feet and began to rush through the hall. 

“ _Miles!_ ” Gwen shouted, her voice echoing all around her. 

She slid around another corner her voice growing more and more strained with each time she called her friend's name. She kept running and running through the underground space until she felt the pressure at the base of her neck grow stronger. Gwen backtracked until she came across a hallway that branched off from the main one. 

It didn’t go very far, in fact, the hallway only went a few feet before ending at a door. The door was white and nondescript, but what really drew Gwen’s gaze was the quiet light that shone from its window. The window was small and square, and high enough that she couldn’t see into it. In her entire night at the facility, this was the first sign of something alive or active that she’d encountered. 

With each step Gwen took, the pressure mounted until she was practically wincing from it. It was practically unbearable by the time she was standing in front of the door. Nevertheless, her Spidey-Sense had led her here and Gwen’s instincts rarely failed her. 

So, she gripped the door’s knob and gave it a tug. When the door didn’t budge, she tried again this time utilizing her super-strength. It flew wide open and Gwen slipped inside. She almost gasped from the sudden change in temperature. 

The room’s walls were a peeling white and a naked bulb shone a weak light over rows and rows of steel shelving. Her Spidey-Sense had at last gone quiet, Gwen apparently finding what it wanted her to. She walked down the rows, inspecting the walls, floor, and ceiling for any clues as to what might have happened to Miles. 

It wasn’t long before, Gwen’s shoulders began to tremble with shivers. She tucked the flashlight under her armpit and began to rub her hands together. They were already beginning to go numb with cold. She had only been in the freezer for no more than a few minutes and she was already losing what little warmth she had. Stupid spiders not being able to thermoregulate. Ever since the bite, Gwen had been a bit more sensitive to the cold; too many times she’d had to cut her patrols short in the winter, to save herself from its bitter bite.

She was just about to turn around and cut her losses when Gwen spotted something through a gap in one of the shelves, something that wasn’t grey or white. She rushed forward and there in the next row was Miles. The flashlight let loose a sharp clatter as it slipped from under her arm and fell to the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! This fic is just going to be two 5k-ish length chapters which is kind of odd, I know, but I just did what I thought was best for the story! Anyways, now that Gwen has found Miles the real angst can begin. In other words, prepare yourselves >:)
> 
> Also, any comments, and/or concrit would be highly appreciated. My readers mean so much to me and I'd love to hear from you all! Until next time, my lovelies!


	2. Saving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gwen has finally found Miles. Now all she has to do is save him.

Miles was curled up, knees hunched into his chest and his arms loosely wrapped around his body, as if he were trying to hold himself together. His head lay against the shelf beside them and his face, his face was the worst part of it all. Miles’ eyebrows were coated with a fine layer of frost as was his hairline. His eyes, normally shining with passion, were shut and still. Dried blood flaked under his nose and across his upper lip. Miles’ face was smooth, devoid of any expression. It was as if he were asleep or… 

Gwen was at his side in seconds.

“Oh gosh, oh man, I found you! Miles, wake-up!” she said, giving his shoulder a firm shake. His suit was stiff and barely budged under her fingers. 

“Miles!” Gwen yelled, her voice trembling from the strain. The boy in question didn’t even twitch.

Gwen’s anxiety doubled and her stomach began to churn. Miles wasn’t responding to her not even a little: her touch, her voice, her presence, it all meant nothing; Miles was dead to the world. Gwen gulped at her own choice in words. 

“No need to jump to conclusions, Gwen,” she told herself.

The last thing she needed, the last thing _Miles_ needed was for her to lose it. Gwen forced herself to lower her gaze from Miles’ frozen face to his neck.

She put two fingers up to his skin, which was so awfully cold. Gwen almost cried from relief, when she felt the faint thudding of Miles’ pulse. It was weak though, way weaker than it should be. He wasn’t shivering either, which was definitely not a good sign. Miles’ body was giving up. By now, it was clear that he wasn’t going to wake up, not here. He needed to get somewhere warm and fast.

Gwen stopped wasting precious time, seconds counted now. She carefully hooked her hands under Miles’ armpits and maneuvered him away from the wall. As soon as he was laid out, Gwen bent down and slid her arms under Miles’ neck and knees. Cradling him like this was impractical, but Gwen wanted Miles to soak up any possible warmth that he could from her. The last thing she did before rising, was grasp the flashlight in her right hand. 

Miles was dead weight in her hold and his head lolled against her shoulder in a way that made her sick. As soon as she was sure that he was secure, Gwen barreled out of the room. She couldn’t let a friend die in her arms, not again. 

Gwen made it out of the warehouse in record time, leaving the dreaded freezer behind her. It was still raining outside, _of course,_ it was still raining. Gwen slipped her mask off of her face and after checking Miles pulse one more time she tugged it down over his head. The fabric was light enough to not obstruct his breathing, but just in case, she pulled the mask up to his ears. 

She shifted Miles over her shoulder, unhappy to do so, but needing her arms to sling webs. Gwen knew she was overdoing her swings by how much they pulled at her shoulders. It didn’t matter though because she reached May’s in half the time it would have normally taken her.

When she touched down in front of May’s, the first thing Gwen did was slip Miles off of her shoulder and tuck him into her side. She half carried him up the driveway, his feet catching in the cracks of the concrete. When they reached the front door, Gwen pounded on it so hard that it almost caved in. 

In seconds, the door gave way and all Gwen was able to say was, “help him.”

May reached out, past the door frame, and put a hand on Gwen’s back, guiding her inside.

“Put him on the couch,” May said; her voice was steady, grounded. Gwen had never been more grateful for May. 

Gwen did as she was instructed, carrying Miles through the hallway and then carefully laying him out over the cushions. His arm slipped over the edge of the couch and hung there, fingers limp and grazing the carpet.

“Where did you find him?” May asked. 

She wasn’t looking at Gwen, her sharp eyes were scanning over Miles’ form, taking in the frost that still clung to his suit. While waiting for Gwen’s answer she leaned in and felt Miles’ neck for a pulse.

“I found him in a—in a freezer,” Gwen almost gagged at the words. “It’s real bad May. That’s one of the worst things they could have done. Spiders they can’t—they can’t thermoregulate. Miles is—he can’t survive being in the cold for too long.”

Unable to go on, Gwen lowered herself down beside the couch. She picked up Miles’ hand from the floor and clutched it in her own. She brought their intertwined hands close and Gwen bent over them and squeezed, trying to force some kind of warmth, some kind of life back into Miles.

May leaned over her friends’ form and carefully pulled the mask up and over his face. His eyes were still shut, his face still blank. It was just so wrong. All of it. This time Gwen couldn’t hold back the sob that sprung up from her chest.

May whipped around to face her, pinning Gwen in place with her piercing blue eyes. 

“Gwen, I need you to listen to me carefully, okay?”

Gwen nodded her head up and down so fast and fervently that she nearly got whiplash. 

“It’s not as bad as it looks. Right now, it doesn’t seem as if Miles has hit the critical stage, but he will if we don’t act fast. This is very important; I need you to do exactly as I say.”

Gwen nodded again and without a second to lose May launched into a set of instructions, so many that it nearly made Gwen’s head spin. When she finished, she stared at Gwen, waiting for her to move. She knew that she should, yet she just couldn’t get herself to leave Miles’ side.

“Gwen,” May said sharply, “Miles needs you; he’s counting on you. Sitting by his bedside won’t save him.”

May was right. May was always right. Gwen forced herself to let go of Miles’ hand. Without her support, it fell back to the ground. It didn’t matter though because she wasn't there to see it. She was already on her feet, darting around the couch to get to the stairs. 

Gwen used her web-shooters and propelled herself up the stairwell. In her haste, her foot hooked on the last step and she just barely managed to catch herself on the railing. She only remained there for a second, before flinging herself towards the first room she saw.

All the breath left her body when she crossed the threshold. All the other times Gwen had been over here, she always made sure to avoid _this room. This room_ which somehow managed to be so familiar, yet so foreign.

Turns out even a different multi-verse couldn’t stop Peter from being Peter. Golden trophies modeled after neutrons, beakers, and microscopes lined the upper shelves of a cluttered computer desk. Papers, already accumulating dust, littered its surface. There was a bookshelf 'cause, _of course, there was a bookshelf._ Posters lined the walls and some even faintly registered at the back of Gwen’s brain as their multiverse counterparts. There was a corkboard and it was covered with all sorts of things: pictures with MJ and concert tickets, sticky notes that looked like they were one second away from falling. The bed was barely made, navy comforter strewn just enough to cover the side of the bed. Peter was always in a rush, always on to the next thing.

Gwen would be lying if she said that she didn’t spend a good long while just looking at that bedroom and fighting off the memories that were all trying to rush back at the same time. She was usually pretty good at keeping all that tucked away but seeing all this opened the floodgates of her mind. But then she remembered that Miles was still downstairs. Miles who managed to slip past Gwen’s defenses and befriend her. He was her friend, just like Peter was. 

So, Gwen did what she had to do. She sucked in a deep breath and fought against the force of the memories which had almost overwhelmed her. Then she lowered her head, blocking out almost all of the room and essentially giving her tunnel vision. 

She went straight to Peter’s dresser and dug through it until she found a thick, wool sweater and a pair of sweatpants. She tucked them under her arms and snagged a pair of socks too, before slamming the drawer shut and running from the room. 

As Gwen descended the staircase, she said something of a prayer under her breath.

“Peter you were my best friend. I don’t know how this multiverse stuff works, I bet you would. If you’re out there and if you can somehow hear this, help me save him. I can’t lose someone again.”

As soon as Gwen entered the living room, May was there. She dumped something at Gwen’s feet and held her hands out for the clothes. Gwen obliged her and May said, “figure out a way to get that fireplace on,” before hurrying back over to Miles. 

Gwen didn’t even look at the couch knowing that she would get fixated again. Instead, she scooped up whatever it was that May dumped over her feet. It was Miles’ Spider-Man suit. Even through the thick spandex of her suit, she could feel how cold it was. Even worse it was damp from the rain that they swung through. She let it drop out of her hands and it fell back to the floor with a plop. Without a second to lose, she hurried over to the fireplace, searching for a switch or something.

The fireplace was another one of May’s renovations. She always joked that she barely even used the thing. Gwen simultaneously hated and loved that it was coming in handy for a situation such as this. After a few, mistrials she finally managed to light the dang things, thank goodness it was electric and not gas. It was only one source of heat though and Miles' body needed better. 

May was still taking care of Miles’ clothing, pulling the socks over his feet. They dangled over the side of the couch, without a purpose. Gwen, refusing to be unhelpful, dashed over to May’s thermostat and cranked it so hard that she’ was scared she’d break it.

“Gwen.”

She spun around to answer May’s call.

“I need every blanket in the house, in this living room. I’m gonna go find the heater.”

Gwen took off, heading straight back upstairs and pulling the navy blanket off of Peter’s bed with no hesitation. She dragged the blankets from May’s bed and the guest room too before dashing back downstairs. She dumped them beside the couch and moved on to the closet of blankets that the Spiders always raided during movie nights. Only once all of those blankets were lying on the floor beside Miles, does Gwen allow herself to look at him. 

He looked a little better in the warm clothes. May seemed to have dried him off too and only his hair was damp now, little droplets of water twinkling in his curls. He still wasn’t shivering, which meant that he wasn’t nearly warm enough yet. Gwen forced herself to take comfort in the rise and fall of his chest; as long as Miles was breathing, it meant they had a chance.

With May still nowhere to be found, Gwen decided to continue on with the warming process. She shifted the couch pillows so that they were cushioning Miles’ head. Then she lifted Miles’ body, cradling him to her chest as she spread one of the blankets down beneath him. From there on, Gwen just started swaddling him in blanket after blanket and once his body was completely encased, she began tucking them over his form. By the end of it, six or seven blankets and quilts were covering Miles and even then, it still didn’t feel like it was enough.

That was until Miles’ forehead scrunched up and his lips twitched, just a little. Gwen shouted at the sight of it and called, “May! May! I think he’s starting to come around!”

“He won’t be waking up for a while dear, but it’s good that he’s responsive!”

Gwen didn’t care, didn’t care one bit, she was just grateful to see the first sign of life from Miles in the hour since she’d found him. She crouched down and put a hand on the mountain of blankets. 

“Come on, Miles,” she said, her voice low and soft, “you’ve gotta fight this, you’ve gotta get back up. You’re close, you’re so close I can feel it. Come back to us.”

Miles didn’t move again. Gwen hoped that somehow, wherever Miles was in his mind, that he had heard her.

“Come give me a hand with this,” Gwen heard May grunt from behind the couch. 

She got to her feet and hurried over to assist May with one of the two heaters that she was lugging into the room. She relieved her of a tall and slender heater, one that almost came to Gwen’s shoulder. May nodded to the side of the couch where Miles’ legs were. 

“Angle it towards his middle, that’s what needs warming first.”

Gwen busied herself with the task, plugging in the heater and cranking it on its highest and hottest setting. She tilted it so that it was facing Miles’ core just as May instructed. She’d just finished when all of a sudden, May exclaimed, “oh,” and darted out of the room.

Gwen stared after her for a moment, but then she picked up where the woman left off, plugging in and adjusting the other much smaller and squatter heater. Sweat dripped off of Gwen’s forehead as she straightened to observe the room. 

Heat was pouring off the fireplace and the thermostat seemed to be doing its job as well. The heaters expelled warm air into the room and Gwen could feel her Spider-Woman suit beginning to stick to her. It was all worth it though when Miles gave a quiet groan and shifted a little, under the covers.

_It was working._

Gwen almost fell over from the relief that rushed through her body. It wasn’t over yet, though, so instead, she wiped her brow and waited for May to return and possibly give her more directions. It was the right call because when May did return, it was in a hurry. She dumped something warm into Gwen’s hands and says, “apply them to his neck,” before running out of the room again.

In Gwen’s hands rested two warm, first-aid compresses, hurriedly wrapped in kitchen towels. Doing as she’d been told, Gwen lifted up the edge of the blankets and sandwiched the compresses in between Miles’ neck and the pillow. She’d just finished pulling the blankets back up to his chin, when May returned, for the first time not in a hurry.

She had a set of clothes in her hands, but as she neared Gwen, she lowered them to the table. Gwen readied herself for another task, but this time May was moving slowly, deliberately, towards her. Her eyes had lost their calculating edge and although they looked tired there was something else in them too. Something that somehow made Gwen feel even warmer despite the heavy heat that was dominating the room. 

As soon as she was close enough, May’s arms grabbed ahold of Gwen’s and tugged her close. Gwen only needed a moment to understand what was happening before she sunk into May’s embrace. One of May’s hands was cradling her head, fingers lightly resting on the fuzz of Gwen’s hair and the other was squeezing her shoulder. It was exactly what Gwen needed; May always knew what everyone needed.

“You brave, brave girl. You did it. You found Miles and you saved him. I am so, so proud of you.”

For the second time that day, May had almost brought Gwen to tears. Usually, when somebody complimented Gwen, she found a way to deflect it, either with a snarky comment or a clever quip. This time though, she just let May’s words sink deep into her skin, let the warmth of them course through her veins. Maybe the heat was getting to her head, but for once Gwen didn’t feel the need to put up some type of front. She just let May hold her and say soothing things into her ear.

Gwen didn’t know how long they spent like that. It may as well have been an eternity. May did eventually pull back though and when she did, she gestured to the clothes that she set down on the table earlier. “I don’t know if you’re aware, but that rain got you too and the last thing I need is two Spider-people out of commission.”

Gwen getting the gist of May’s suggestion, nodded. May gave her shoulder one more squeeze before moving towards the kitchen.

“May wait!” Gwen called, just before the woman moved through the doorway.

May stopped and turned towards Gwen, patiently waiting for her to voice what she needed.

“How do you know that he’s gonna be okay?”

She knew was silly to doubt May because May had been right up to this point. Still, Gwen needed to know for herself.

May propped herself up against the wall. Her eyes gained a faraway look and although she was standing there, Gwen got the sense that May was somewhere else right now.

"My Peter ended up in a situation just like this once,” was the next thing May said. Even her voice sounded far away.

“Really?” Gwen asked.

“Yes,” May said and Gwen followed her gaze, to the couch adjacent from the one Miles was occupying. She continued on, her voice gathering more and more strength.

“To tell you the truth, I was scared. Hadn’t had nearly as much experience with this spider-stuff as I do now. We managed to make it through though. My Peter was fine. You Spider-people are a tough lot.”

“But,” Gwen said, her voice so much smaller, so much more hesitant than May’s, “Miles is younger than your Peter. You say he’s going to be okay, but I just…what am I supposed to do in the meantime? What did you do?”

May’s eyes shifted back over to Gwen and she could see that she was really looking at her now, not just staring through her.

“I curled up around my nephew and I held him until he came back to me.”

May shook her head and continued.

“You’re giving your powers less credit then they’re due Gwen. I understand you’re worried, I more than understand, but Miles is doing plenty good right now; no doubt due to that advanced healing of his. In fact, he should be waking up sooner or later. The most we can do for Miles is be there for him while he wakes up and recovers.”

May’s voice was firm, her eyes were sure, but more importantly, her logic was sound. For what felt like the first time in the last hour, Gwen could breathe again. Her shoulders fell ever so slightly, and she nodded her head to show that she accepted May’s answer for what it was.

“I’m going to set on some tea,” May said and then nodding towards the couch she said, “he’s gonna need it.”

With that May, winked and then disappeared into the adjoining room. 

Gwen resisted the urge to plaster herself to the couches side. She needed to take care of herself, or else she’d be of no use to Miles. Instead, she headed for May’s bathroom, scooping up the clothes as she went. They seemed to have belonged to May, thank goodness, Gwen didn’t know if she could handle being in Peter’s clothes.

She peeled off her Spider-Woman suit and slipped into the grey joggers and white t-shirt that she’d been provided. The clothes were a little big, one side of the shirt was in danger of slipping off of her shoulder and the sweatpants bunched up around her ankles, but they were dry and that was what counted. 

When she gathered her Spider-Woman suit up in her arms, something slipped out of it and clattered to the ground. _Her communicator._ She should call and tell the others, she figured this was something they should all know. 

Gwen sat down on the toilet and flipped it open. A hologram constructed of blue light beamed above it. A little emoji stuck it’s tongue out at Gwen and winked. Despite the circumstances of this entire situation, she couldn’t help but laugh. 

“What would you like to do today?” the emoji asked her.

“Call everyone,” Gwen said, and then as an afterthought, she added, “except Miles.”

“Okay!” the emoji sang and after winking one more time it dove back into the communicator.

The dial tone emerged from the communicator and after two rings, the sing-songy voice said, “Peni is available to talk.” Another dial and then the voice said, “Peter Porker is available to talk,” the words “Noir is available to talk,” immediately following it.

That was so close to being everybody. Normally, Gwen would have gone ahead and started the call and waited for whoever else to join later, but this was big. Her finger hovered over the start call button and she allowed her communicator to ring one more time before pressing it. Just before the call started the sing-songy voice said, “Peter B. is—” before cutting itself off.

The first thing she heard was Peter B. who grumbled, “do you have any idea what time it is?”

“Yeah Gwen,” Ham said, right on Peter’s heels, “don’t tell me you’ve started taking up after Peni.”

“Hey,” Peni squawked through the phone, voice indignant, “I resent that.”

“Oh yeah,” Peter B. said, “it’s twelve o’clock in my universe, which means it’s three o’clock in yours. Don’t tell me that you haven't slept a wink so far.”

“You don’t know me,” Peni said, her voice shrill over the communicator.

“Lay off the dame,” Noir said with a yawn, “and quit yapping for five seconds. Gwen’s the one that called us all in the first place and she hasn’t even spoken yet.”

_Thank you, Noir._

Everyone on the line went quiet and Gwen took a deep breath before saying, “hey guys.”

 _Dang._ _She had no idea how tired she sounded until she’d spoken. She even beat out Peter B. who had literally been woken up less than a minute ago._

“Hiya,” Peter Porker, said.

“Hello, doll,” said Noir.

“Hey, Gwenny,” Peni chirped.

“Hi Gwen,” Peter B. said.

All their voices were suddenly so much softer. They all apparently came to the silent consensus to let Peter B. take the lead because only he spoke next. 

“Is everything alright?” he asked.

“Um,” Gwen said, “well, I’m okay. I’m actually over May’s right now.”

“You’re still in Miles’ universe? This late?” Peter B. asked. He sounded a lot more awake now, his voice growing stronger with awareness.

“Yeah. I am actually. Miles was missing and I found him, but I’m gonna be here a little while.”

No one spoke, they were all still waiting for Gwen to elaborate.

She went on and said, “I’m still not sure exactly what happened, but Miles got in over his head with something. He ended up…not doing too good. He’s stable now, but I still thought you all should know.”

There was a long pause where everyone processes what Gwen said and then Peni asked, “are you okay?”

“Yes Peni,” Gwen said putting her head in her hands, gosh Peni was too good for this world, “I’m doing just fine. Thanks for asking.”

Everyone thanked Gwen for informing them and said they would be over at various times. Either way, they were all on their way and Gwen was grateful for it. She shut her communicator with a tired sigh and got to her feet. 

She practically stumbled out of the bathroom and made her way back to the living room. The events of the day were starting to catch up to her and all her energy was just _gone._ She needed to lie down, but she also just couldn’t stop thinking about what May said. She stared at Miles’ prone form, vulnerable and alone. She debated with herself and then she finally gave in. She nearly watched Miles die today. They could both use this. 

Gwen stumbled over to the couch Miles occupied. She crawled over Miles’ body and then she lifted the blankets as high as she dared. She wiggled herself down between him and the couch, before tucking them both in. 

She let one of her arms lay across Miles’ chest and over the side of the couch. Her cheek pressed into his shoulder and Gwen gave Miles the only thing she could at this point: warmth. With Miles now secured in her arms, Gwen’s eyes fluttered closed and she felt her body giving itself over to sleep. She heard who she assumed to be May enter the room, but she didn’t have the energy to open her eyes and check. She sensed someone leaning over her and Miles and gentle hands smoothed back Gwen’s hair from her face and then they were gone. 

The last thing Gwen registered before she finally let go of her hold on reality, was Miles’ body shivering, ever so slightly, beneath her.

* * *

When Gwen cracked open her eyes, she couldn’t see much of anything. The room was dark, aside from a faint light coming from the corner and her lashes were still crusted with sleep. She was trying to figure out what awoke her when she felt Miles shifting beneath her.

Gwen tried to move, but there was a weight on her legs. She began to panic and twisted her body to see multiple shadows and shapes of people gathered all over the couch, one of them right where her legs were. Her hand tightened into a fist, but before she could throw a punch her eyes adjusted to recognize a familiar crooked nose. 

Peter B. was down at the end of the couch, her feet trapped behind his back. Miles’ legs lay in his lap. She squinted at the rest of the figures and slowly picked out features that made them recognizable. Peter Porker was splayed out over her and Miles’ stomach, little cartoon ZZZ’s floating away from his snout. Gwen could see Peni’s untamed black hair across the other side of Miles’ chest and assumed that the girl was tucked into his other side. Gwen craned her neck, searching for Noir and found him, propped up in a chair beside the couch. He was leaning against it and Gwen saw his arm disappear somewhere near Miles’ head before it was lost in the tangle of their bodies.

Her heart was melting over the six of them all cozied up around each other, in their little pile of love. Her attention was drawn back to what woke her up in the first place when Miles turned his head toward her and mumbled, “Gwen?”

His voice was thick with sleep (and probably from being unconscious).

“Yeah?” Gwen whispered back.

“I can’t move. Are we safe?”

“Yeah we’re okay,” Gwen said and her voice kind of caught as she said it.

He picked his head up a little and squinted at his surroundings. Then his head fell back to the couch and his head lolled to the side, to face her. His honeyed eyes were glazed over.

“Everyone’s here.” 

He said the words slowly as if he was chewing on each of them. 

“Did something bad happen? I can’t remember.”

Miles’ face was scrunched up and Gwen could see how hard he was trying to swim through the fog shrouding his memories. She didn’t want him to worry though. She just wanted him to rest.

“Everything is okay now,” she said. 

Normally, Gwen would be a little embarrassed. It was different when he was unconscious, but now that Miles was awake, Gwen was very aware that his right leg was tangled up in her’s and that her arm was still resting over his chest. Right now, though, she decided it was inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. Instead, she just pressed her head against Miles’ shoulder and said, “we almost lost you.” 

Miles didn’t say anything, but then he slowly shifted his arm around in search of Gwen’s. When he found it, Miles grabbed ahold of Gwen’s hand and gave it a squeeze. 

“I’m here,” he said.

The words slurred and Gwen knew that Miles was only half aware of what he was saying, but she still trusted them. She gave a quiet laugh and to her surprise, a tear slipped down her cheek. 

“I know, it’s not like we’d let you anyway. You’re not getting away from us that easy Morales.”

Miles didn’t laugh like he normally would. Instead, he mumbled, “Gwen, I’m still really tired.”

“Then sleep,” she said. 

“Will you still be here when I wake up?”

“Yes, Miles. I will.”

“Okay…okay.”

He shifted a little and turned his head to face hers. Gwen watched as his eyes slowly fluttered shut. He’d be okay. Miles was tough and when things got tough, he kept going. He was strong in that kind of way.

* * *

This time, when Miles woke up, it was without the weight of bodies against him. He blinked and took in his surroundings. He quickly noticed three things. One, his limbs didn’t feel as heavy anymore and his head was a thousand times clearer. Two, he was no longer in a couch, he was in a bed. And three, sitting in a chair, at the foot of the bed, and slumped over its surface was Gwen.

She looked peaceful, albeit a little ruffled. Her hair was mussed up and lay over her ears and across her cheek. She was wearing joggers and a shirt that looked just a little too big. Miles didn’t know if he’d ever seen her dressed so casually before. He didn’t want to disturb her, but Miles didn’t exactly know where he was (even though it was familiar) and he needed to know if they were safe.

“Gwen,” he whispered. He didn’t mean to whisper, but his voice was so hoarse that he couldn't seem to get any louder. She didn’t react, which worried Miles because, with her fine-tuned senses, Gwen would have usually been awake before he even opened his eyes.

“Gwen,” he whispered again. This time her nose twitched, but that was it. Miles wanted to reach down and wake her, but his body felt kind of heavy, so he didn’t. He did his best with what he had, and Miles used his foot to nudge Gwen’s arm.

That did the trick. Gwen’s arm stopped supporting her head and she fell in the air a little before she caught herself. She blearily looked around, until her eyes landed on Miles. She yawned, stretched, and then gave him a small smile.

“Morning, Miles. How’re you feeling?”

“I’m alright, I guess,” he said with a shrug. “Where are we?”

Gwen gave him a funny look, but then her face cleared, and she said, “we’re in May’s house. In her guest room.”

“Okkaayyy,” Miles said, “I’m sorry, but I’m still a little confused. I thought that would help, but it didn’t help at all. Could you, like, explain a little more maybe?”

Gwen gave a couple giggles and it kind of scared him. 

“Man Morales, I missed you. I honestly don’t know much; a lot of stuff still needs to be filled in by you. What I do know is that you took on something that was just a little too big for your britches. No back-up, no nothing. Somehow you ended up in a freezer and I pulled your sorry butt out of there. May and I brought you back from the brink.”

Gwen said all of this with an easy swing to her words, but Miles had known Gwen for long enough to see what was going on beneath the surface. She said everything just a little too quickly and her fingers were pinching the blankets of the bed. Something else was up.

“And how are you doing?” Miles asked, “It seems like you’ve been taking care of me for a long time now.”

“Well, I just wanted to keep my promise,” Gwen said, with a shrug.

“What promise?” Miles asked.

Gwen squirmed a little in chair and Miles watched as the back of her neck flushes bright red. She dropped her head and her gaze stayed glued to the ground.

“You don’t remember,” she mumbled, more to herself.

“It doesn’t matter,” Miles said, waving her off, “either way, I’m glad you’re here.”

Gwen looked up, thank goodness, the last thing he wanted was to embarrass her. He wanted to move on from this moment and go back to their comfortable familiarity. He couldn’t do that here though; he didn’t know this room and he was out of his element. His limbs still felt heavy and he couldn’t even imagine getting out of her on his own.

“A little help?” Miles asked, holding out his arm.

Gwen leapt to her feet and didn’t hesitate to slip her arm under Miles’ armpit and behind his back. Slowly, awkwardly, they maneuvered Miles so that his legs were dangling over the side of the bed. He looked to Gwen more time. She gave him her best shot at a reassuring smile and then she hoisted him to his feet. 

Things were going well until they tried to take their first step. Miles stumbled and nearly ate it on the floor. Thankfully, Gwen pulled him back up and pulled him to her side. His legs were completely useless and she was the only thing keeping him up right now. Gwen tightened her grip on Miles’ hip and his arm which was slung around her neck.

“Don’t worry,” she said, “I got you.”

“I know,” Miles said. “Thanks for that—and for everything.”

"That's what friends are for."

Miles didn't think he'd ever heard Gwen call him her friend before. After all this time he just kind of assumed, but he'd never really known for sure. To hear her say it so plainly made his heart soar; Gwen was getting better, letting people in. Being shoved in a freezer and left for dead sucked, but at least something good had come out of it. Hearing Gwen call them friends, almost, _almost_ , made the whole thing worth it.

"I can see the gears in your mind turning," Gwen said. "Don't overthink it."

"Right," Miles said, ducking his head, embarrassed to have been read so easily. If he hadn't been depending on Gwen to remain upright, he probably would have retreated to the other side of the room. Maybe she sensed this because without missing a beat she said.

"C'mon, let's get downstairs. I bet there's a delicious cup of tea waiting for the both of us."

And just like that, the embarrassment dropped away. Things with Gwen were easy like that and Miles wouldn't have rathered anyone else at his side. He let his weight fall against her, knowing that she would carry it just fine. He could already feel his stiff muscles coming back to life, but in the meantime, Miles trusted Gwen to guide him, trusted her with everything he had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off, I want to give a very big thank you to all my readers; I hope that you all enjoyed the story!!! I adore hearing from you guys and I would appreciate any and all feedback in the form of comments/concrit. Until next time, my lovelies<3


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